


Scorch and Spark

by felixs_thigh_highs



Series: Burn Until We Meet Again [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ambiguous Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Any Route, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-22 21:00:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23100325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felixs_thigh_highs/pseuds/felixs_thigh_highs
Summary: “Come on, Felix, let’s give it another go. I know you can do this. We can try something practical this time. There’s only so much books can teach you about magic.”He stood up, grabbing Felix’s elbow to pull him from the table. Felix shook off his hand but followed suit.“Fine. What did you have in mind?” Sylvain’s only response was a wink before he turned toward the knights hall training grounds. Felix followed with a groan.…Professor Byleth wants Felix and Sylvain to become mages, much to Felix’s dismay. Will some extra time practicing together finally produce some sparks?
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Series: Burn Until We Meet Again [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655503
Kudos: 25





	Scorch and Spark

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of light-hearted fluff i needed to write after the heavy angst of Margrave and Mercenary. This is the scene they allude to in that, by the way, but either fic can be read alone. Enjoy!

“This is pointless!” Felix slammed the book shut with a growl, sat back heavily in his chair, and crossed his arms. “What does any of this have to do with becoming a stronger swordsman?”

Last week, Professor Byleth had decided that both Sylvain and Felix should practice their reason skill to become certified as mages. After class, when Felix had asked her point blank why he should waste his time attending lectures, just to improve his magic skills from mediocre to average, she had replied, “Knowing magic will make you a stronger swordsman.” After Sylvain’s many pathetic pleas to study together, Felix had relented, just to get him to shut up. He hadn’t had any luck practicing on his own, so maybe having a partner would help. They had claimed the small round table beside the bookshelves shortly after dinner and had had their noses in various magical tomes ever since. Night had long since fallen and everyone else in the knights hall had cleared out. 

“Well,” Sylvain drawled, putting his hands behind his head and leaning so far back in his chair that the front two legs left the ground, “the professor seems to think it will be beneficial, so who are we to question? Besides...” He set his chair back down and put his elbows on the table, leaning in to bump Felix’s shoulder with his own and waggling his eyebrows. “This way, we get to spend extra time together without all that silly sword-waving you like so much.”

“Hmph. Idiot,” Felix muttered, pulling his book back to himself and opening it to avoid looking at Sylvain.

Sylvain just chuckled. “Come on, Felix, let’s give it another go. I know you can do this. We can try something practical this time. There’s only so much books can teach you about magic.” 

He stood up, grabbing Felix’s elbow to pull him from the table. Felix shook off his hand but followed suit.

“Fine. What did you have in mind?” Sylvain’s only response was a wink before he turned toward the knights hall training grounds. Felix followed with a groan.

Once in the small dirt pit, Felix crossed his arms and huffed.

“Well?”

Sylvain pointed across to the two targets situated near the wall. “One for you, one for me.”

“What?” Felix deadpanned.

“We’re going to shoot some spells at those targets over there. First to break one receives a night on the town, courtesy of the loser.”

Felix fixed Sylvain with a glare. “Sylvain, I haven’t even managed to produce a proper spell yet, much less one strong enough to break an oak target. If you’re that desperate to pick up a bed partner on someone else’s dime, I’ll just give you the gold. No need to involve me in your debauchery.”

Sylvain clutched his chest dramatically. “You wound me, Felix! Is it so wrong to want to spend some time with my favorite person in all Fódlan enjoying some good food and good drinks?”

“Right. Tell me this has nothing to do with picking up girls, and say it with a straight face.”

Sylvain stepped in front of Felix to face him straight on, all joking gone from his face. Then, putting his hand over his heart, he said, “I swear this has nothing to do with picking up girls. I just want to help you get better. Now can we please practice some magic?" His face fell a little. "We don’t even have to do my stupid little contest if you don’t want to.”

The sincerity and sadness on Sylvain’s face was too much for Felix to bear, causing him to avert his eyes. “No, it’s fine,” he said to the targets. “Just...let me have a few minutes to practice before we start.”

Sylvain’s eyes brightened. “Yeah, of course. Let me know when you're ready." 

He went back to the little table they had been studying at and dove into his tome to let Felix practice without an audience. He kept his eyes glued to the page, barely taking in the words he was reading, as Felix worked on his casting. Over the book, he saw the glow of the magic circles Felix drew in the air. He smelled ether and heard whooshing and a few telltale cracks. No full-blown spell yet, but Felix was improving.

"All right, let's get this over with."

Shoving the book aside, Sylvain jumped up and jogged over to Felix's side. "You got this, buddy," he said, clapping a hand to Felix’s shoulder.

"Quit massaging my ego and cast your spell."

Sylvain pulled back, his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Okay, okay. Here goes."

Sylvain moved his hands in the air, drawing the magic circle necessary to produce a spell. Then he raised them above his head and shot them forward with a shout, producing a fireball. The spell hit the target in a plume of smoke, but when the smoke cleared, they saw that the wood of the target was only scorched and not broken

“Huh,” said Sylvain, scratching the back of his head. “I thought my fire magic was stronger than that. Oh well, guess it’s your turn. Show me what you can do!”

Lining up with his target, Felix took a deep breath to steady himself and let it out slowly. He raised his arms and started to draw the magic circle in the air in front of him. It fizzled out before he could finish, drawing a frustrated growl from his throat.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Sylvain said, stepping closer. “Can I give you a few pointers?”

“If you must.”

“Well, I noticed you’re a little off on your ratios in your sigil. Your center circle should be just a bit bigger. Here, let me help you.” Sylvain moved behind Felix, put his hands on the swordsman’s forearms, and lifted them to guide the movements. When Felix didn’t resist, he began moving their joined arms to shape the magic circle. Felix fought to maintain focus, despite Sylvain’s warmth against his back and the unusual feelings it was causing in his stomach. As Sylvain drew the circle, Felix felt the magic growing and beginning to channel into his hands. “Yeah, just like that,” the redhead said softly, his breath ghosting over Felix’s right ear, the sound of his voice in his chest rumbling against Felix’s back.

Felix’s breath hitched and he suppressed a shudder, but everywhere Sylvain was touching him began to feel warm and Felix’s hands became surrounded by a yellow glow. Suddenly, a tower of crackling blue light descended in front of them, demolishing both oaken targets.

They both stood dumbfounded before the smoldering bits of wood, unmoving for several moments. When Felix finally realized that Sylvain was still holding him from behind, he jerked out of Sylvain’s grasp and moved away. Keeping his back to the redhead, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes, trying to understand what just happened.

“That was…” Sylvain finally managed, voice awed and low. “Wow. I knew you could do it.”

Felix remained still and silent, staring at the broken targets. His fingers brushed over his forearms, where Sylvain’s touch had left a lingering warmth, even through his uniform shirt. His heart thudded in his chest and his mind raced. What was this nervous, tingly sensation assaulting his body? Was it just the result of finally doing some decent magic? Or...something else? Whatever it was, Sylvain didn’t have to know.

“Felix?” came Sylvain’s concerned voice. “You okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”

Felix shook his head. “I’m fine. Thanks for your help.” With that, he turned toward the door, never looking at Sylvain, and left the knights hall. 

Still stunned, Sylvain sat down heavily on the edge of the training area and looked down at his hands, which retained some warmth from the spell and contact with Felix. In truth, he had suggested this contest in the hopes that he could get a little closer to Felix than the prickly swordsman usually allowed. It was a tactic he’d used with much success with many girls, seeing them struggling with a task and offering to show them a better way to do it, so he could touch them and guide them and hopefully feel something spark between them. There had never been literal sparks before, much less a whole column of Thunder.

“So sparks really do fly…” he mused to himself, grinning.

**Author's Note:**

> The next scene I'm working on for this series is set during and after the Battle of Derdriu. It'll be angsty and steamy, so stay tuned for that!


End file.
